Monday, October 28, 2013

It feels official here in FL. The weather has cooled...yeah...so it is beginning to feel a lot like fall/winter. I mean....50 degrees in FL...that is COLD to some, though I like it.

Anyway...everyone is hopping on the holiday bandwagon so I am too. My first Holiday Challenge is by Diana Ptaszynski of Suburban Girl Studio. It is called Halloween/Dad of the Dead Jewelry Blog Hop. My offering is made of clay that was made by a friend several years ago...of course my husband says they look like dogs...but they are really skeleton heads....I did a coil of black wire and input red satin ribbon in it and capped the ends with Antique Copper styled cones. I then attached the bead with black wire. The earrings are just a smaller version of the main bead. I am really trying to step out of the box and try different techniques. I like how the wire looks...but it is a bit stiff for my liking. But if the wire was any softer I don't think it would hold as well. So here is my piece...make sure to hop around to the others listed below to see what spooky pieces they created in their cauldrons.Thanks for looking and come back soon!

Sunday, October 27, 2013

For this challenge we were asked to create based on October. Well in Florida it is hard to tell if it is October, though it is starting to cool off. But up north, I know the colors are just awe inspiring. So I took those colors...reds, browns, golds, greens, yellows and oranges and put together a few pieces.

The first one is a free form crochet necklace using buttons and some beads. It is big enough to slip over the head. I made matching earrings.

The second is some fabric I had that I made into a type of scarf then slid brown wooden beads onto it, separated by glued in wooden beads. Then on one side I took some green, red, and orange shimmer fabric, cut it into strips and laced through some more wooden beads then laced each end with some more wooden beads. The closure is a purse ring that I fabric glued the ends around, so it too just slips over the head.

Then I again used some fall colored buttons and made two sets of earrings.

Thanks for stopping by..for more fall beauties check out the links below.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

I have been wanting to do one of these forever, and when Jeannie Dukic of JKD Jewelry posted for it...I jumped on immediately! I love being creative and am always trying to do things out of the box. I guess you could say it is like the new Sci Channel advertisement for a new show...the future starts today...sounds like a good mantra....hmmmm.

So, below is the picture of the piece I got. I ALMOST took the whole thing apart before taking a picture as I was so excited!

Of course that pink bead with the roses on it...just SCREAMED bead work pendant. And since I had just finished a cabochon challenge with Sally Russick of the The Studio Sublime and wanted to stretch my wings based on what she had taught me I was like "lets fly baby!"

But for those that really know me, I don't do the simple...I want to always challenge myself. So I had downloaded the book "Bored By Back Stitch" By Cyndi Lavin of Mazeltov Jewelry and had been just drooling over the pictures wanting to "bead" something!!!!

So I went through the book and found the Single St Petersburg Chain Motif. Of course there were SOOOO many different designs, it was really hard to choose. But I did decide that the St Petersburg Chain had a "swing" to it and would look really good!

Below is a collage of the in between steps.....

We had to use at least 50% of the beads, I used 4 of the main beads, then the small silver ones, and the chain. The bead caps came from the do over necklace also. The seed beads and the small filler beads were from me.

This is what I had left over...

I have some plans for them too.

I really love the way my finished piece turned out. The "little bow" at the bottom has a tiny metal rose that I stitched in with the crystal beads. I also enclosed a larger detail of the beaded pendant. I can't say enough on how happy I was that Sally put out this challenge and that Cyndi had written her book. With out these two wonderful people, I wouldn't have had the nerve to try the beading. AND with out Jeannie hosting the challenge, I wouldn't have been even interested in it...So THANK YOU to my inspirational peeps for giving me this chance.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

This month challenge was really good in that even though it didn't have those "Halloween" colors, it was symbolic of the season. Owls are fascinating birds. The ability to swivel their heads amazes me.

Owl on Gingko Branch (Scops Owl Under Crescent Moon) 1915

Ohara Koson

Woodblock Print on Paper

(Please note this art is copyrighted and is to be used only as inspiration.)

A delightful image of a little scops owl perched on a ginko tree beneath a thin crescent moon.

About the Artist

Ohara Koson - (1877 - 1945) was a Japanese painter and printmaker of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, part of the shin-hanga (new prints) movement. He was born Ohara Matao in Kanazawa, Japan. It is thought that he started training in painting and design at the Ishikawa Prefecture Technical School in 1889-1893. He also studied painting with Suzuki Kason (1860-1919), although accounts differ on whether this happened during his school years or after he moved to Tokyo in the middle to late 1890s. In Tokyo, he produced some woodblock triptychs illustrating episodes of the Russo-Japanese War, but most of his production was prints of animals (kacho-ga). He worked at first with publishers Akiyama Buemon (Kokkeido) and Matsuki Heikichi (Daikokuya), signing his work Koson. Starting around 1926, he became associated with the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo, and signed his work Shoson. He also worked with the publisher Kawaguchi, signing his works Hoson. Through his association with Watanabe, Oharas work was exhibited abroad, and his prints sold well, particularly in the United States. He was active designing prints until at least 1935, and died at his home in Tokyo in 1945.

For this challenge I knew what I wanted to do. My brain has been in creative overload lately and it running full steam ahead whether I am with it or not. Anyway, I have met a new creative artist, Sydny Sierra, that is dipping her toes in the craft ocean and asked her if she could do up this pendant piece for me. I wanted something rustic and I think she did very well. She hasn't quite got a site up yet, but I am mentoring her. Her site will be called Blue Rose Crafts. She is into photography also and has a FB page called Blue Rose Photography.

So she did this piece for me and I made it into a necklace with matching earrings. I used orange cotton braiding cord, wire, and beads that I had in my stash. I am soooo trying to use up my beads...but funny thing....as fast as I use them...the more there seem to be.

I did find some coppery glass beads that I decided to wrap around, I tried to take pictures so you could see it. I "very carefully" put some wire with green beads on the real stick she put on under the owl. Then I hung the orange leaves below the owl. I was very careful also drilling the holes in the corners to hang the leaves and the rings to hold it on the cotton braid. For being her first piece, I am impressed and she truly captured the owl. I will be posting on flicker and abs.com for the challenge. Thanks for looking.

And I have several more challenges coming up that I will posting about, so hop back around this weekend.